CMLT 679Z

CMLT 679Z
SPRING, 2000

PROFESSOR MITCHELL LIFTON

TEXT: Kershner & Lifton, CECILIA screenplay (course booklet)

Web assignments (& URLs) will be announced.

1. SUBJECT AND OBJECT OF THE COURSE

The subject of the course will be the design, construction, and implementation of an interactive version of the feature film "Cecilia". The film is currently schduled to begin production on March 1, 2000. However, sufficient elements now exist that the basic work on making this a stand-alone project exemplifying the power of digital narration can proceed. It is not anticipated that all of the necessary work will be completed in one semester.

It will be the task of the students in the course to carry out the conceptual planning and, eventually, the execution, of the digital project. This means that the feature script will have to be modified and redesigned, in effect, reconceptualized, using either StorySpace or ScriptTools as the first planning bases. From this will grow the revised script--or “bible”--for the digital project.

Once the “bible” phase is sufficiently advanced, graphic and 3D design will follow. Until the film is shot and the footage made available, the class will proceed to model story locations and spaces, using only stick figures to represent the characters. The exact nature of the interactive elements and their implementation will of course depend on the evolution of the digital script, but it is a specific purpose of the course to experiment fully with the various emerging possibilities of digital narration.

For this reason, the class will be organized in a manner analogous to an advanced science laboratory, where students and instructor participate in the basic and applied research necessary for the successful conclusion to an experiment. The object of the course is, therefore, to make Cecilia both a laboratory for the exploration of the full potential of digital narration, and an example of how this new narrative medium can function.

2. AN EXPERIMENTAL CONCEPT OF DIGITAL NARRATION

Until now, digital narration has been limited in both its conceptual scope and the intellectual and/or artistic content which the vehicle carries. Methodologically, digital narration divides into two broad approaches. The first examples to have come along are hypertextual works of various kinds which link passages of text or individual words with other reference points, other text, graphic materials, and so on. Essentially, these are user-directed data banks which allow the individual user to create her/his own thread through the material, be it narrative or research-oriented.

The second, familiar to us through a wide variety of computer games, for example, allows the user to make a series of choices which determine the narrative outcome. Frequently, these choices are merely geographical, (i.e., turn right or turn left?). At other times the user may activate a lever, push a button, pull a trigger and so on, which actions put in train a series of other actions within the narrative space, sometimes predictable, sometimes not.

It will be a working assumption of the seminar that neither of these approaches begins to take full advantage of the inherent power of digital narration. For reasons given below, the instructor is not sympathetic to the notion that these devices “empower” the user (and even less sympathetic to all jargon of like kind). A strong case can be made that these are, on the contrary, disassociating factors which remove or alienate the user from the heart of the narrative, and thus attenuate rather than enhance narrative effect.

Where, then, does the real power of digital narration reside? This, indeed, is one of the crucial questions that the work of the class will attempt to resolve, or at least explore in depth. Tentatively, we will begin by considering immersion as being critical to successful digital narration. Though one may define immersion in several ways, for our purposes it will be taken to mean placing the “reader” in the narrative space as completely as possible.

We know that narrative always seeks to immerse the reader/listener/watcher (henceforth “reader” for short) as deeply as possible in the world of the story. Naturally, different strategies are used depending on whether the work is verbal, literary, cinematic, operatic, and so on. Nevertheless, however they may differ, as clearly they do, all immersive strategies have a common factor: active engagement with the “reader’s” imagination.

Without this, no one reading a novel would for a moment be able to enter the world of the story, which is of course a complex commingling of the imaginations of “readers” and authors. The “reader” must be engaged to a degree where the famous “willing suspension of disbelief” takes place. A spectator may know and acknowledge that “this is only a movie”, but unless that spectator’s imagination is actively engaged, the shower scene in Psycho, for example, will be nothing more than a schematic of horror, lacking the necessary visceral dimension to be effective.

During the early part of the century, Bertold Brecht enunciated a theory--sometimes called the alienation effect--which became extremely influential in the composition of dramatic narrative. This theory essentially called for the spectator to be “distanced” or “alienated” from the emotive component of a dramatic narrative in order to allow the spectator to deploy an intellectual rather than an emotional response to the narrative. It is telling that Brecht himself little practiced what he preached, and in his later work essentially reversed his position.

The reason for this has already been mentioned above: for narrative to be effective, it must engage the “reader’s” emotions and therefore imagination. An interesting question is why narrative should be so ubiquitous in human societies and, as a corollary, what adaptive function it engages for this to be so. This question, however, is not immediately germane to our efforts and is only mentioned here as a point of considerable theoretical interest.

3. SOME POSSIBILITIES FOR IMMERSION

A “reader” seated in front of a computer screen is faced with some of the same elements of spectating that a tv viewer confronts. A computer, like a tv set, is a familiar object placed in a familiar--or at least recognizable--setting. It does not command attention in the way in which a reflective screen in a darkened movie theater with surround-sound does. The movie house may be familiar, but, once the lights are dimmed and an image appears on the screen, a spectator, seated in front of that screen and surrounded by other spectators similarly placed, is of necessity “pulled” into the action being depicted by the shadow-play which comprises any motion picture.

Likewise, a reader who is “captured” by a narrative text in the pages of a book has to actively deploy her or his imagination, following the paths which the author of the text has drawn. It doesn’t matter whether this reading is being done in the comfort of a cushy chair or in an airport lounge, the relationship between the text and its consumer is effective to the degree to which that text engages the consumer’s imagination. This is precisely what makes a “page-turner” a page-turner.

But a computer user looking for a narrative experience has to overcome the barriers posed both by the familiarity of the setting (one’s own desk, a computer lab, etc.) and by the need to manipulate the machine, no matter how subtle or minimal this might be. The job of “pulling” the “reader” into a computer-based narrative is thus made immediately more difficult. Furthermore, a computer screen, like a tv, is a screen which radiates light, unlike a movie screen which merely reflects it. Some studies have shown that, for physiological and psychological reasons, reflected light is significantly more conducive to narrative involvement than is light emanating from a radiating source.

What digital media uniquely possesses, however, is the ability, at least the potential ability, to bring the “reader” into a three-dimensional space. Ultimately, this is what is meant by immersion. At this time the immersion is only created through visual and aural means. Tactile immersion is only available in experimental settings which require very elaborate and cumbersome apparatii such as helmets, gloves, suits, etc. Olfactory immersion is even more primal. Nevertheless, picture a situation where the “reader”, instead of being confronted with a single computer screen, is in a setting where the walls, ceiling and floor are all imaging surfaces, thus creating a genuine three-dimensioned space in which the “reader” can function and interact with the characters in the narrative. Clearly this is a major step in the direction of total immersion.

In this setting, the “reader” effectively becomes another virtual object, surely a very much heightened and intense manifestation of the suspension of disbelief. When, at some future date, tactile and olfactory elements will be added--as no doubt they will eventually be--the differentiation between narrative illusion and objective reality will be very blurry indeed. And is not the blurring of this frontier one of the hallmarks of successful narrative modes?

Before we get too utopian, however, let’s recognize our present limits. We are still dealing with a “reader” in front of a familiar screen and a computer which needs to be manipulated. Our task is to take the tools presently available to us and use them to maximize immersion to the greatest degree which, stretching them to their limit, they will allow. It is anticipated that during the course of the semester other tools may become available. For the time being, however, we will stick to the instruments at hand.

4. ORGANIZATION OF THE COURSE

As already noted, the course will be organized as a laboratory. All the individuals enrolled in the course come to it with a variety of backgrounds, predilections, and talents. While the group as a whole will be involved with all facets of the project, clearly many aspects of the work will be of a more or less specialized nature. At our first class meeting we will divide the class into several working groups, each of which will have primary--but not exclusive--responsibility for a specific area of our work. The areas are described below.

At the beginning of each class each group will report on its work: advances, ideas, problems, questions, and so on. These sessions are not verbal exams, but rather free-wheeling, collaborative working conferences in which synergy and the necessary symbiotic relationships between the work of the groups are made manifest. The division into groups is a matter of practicality and working efficiency, it is not to be seen as an invitation to competition. IN OTHER WORDS, THE EXPERIMENT IS A COOPERATIVE AND COLLABORATIVE CLASS EFFORT INVOLVING ALL OF US. This may run counter to the prevailing national dogma of savage competition über alles, but it is worth remembering that in nature, the survival of the fittest doesn’t necessarily mean the survival of the most ferocious competitor, but can and frequently does mean the survival of the most astute collaborator.

The groups will assume primary responsibility for the following (though some of these topics may, and probably will, be modifiedas we go along):

a. script modification
b. immersive strategies & methods
c. modeling of narrative spaces
d. strategies of interactivity
e. character activation

As you can see, these are all related to, and dependent upon, one another. So, whatever group you will belong to, your first loyalty is to the project and the experiment as a whole. BEING ASSIGNED TO ONE GROUP DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU CANNOT OR WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN WORK BEING DONE BY ANY OF THE OTHER GROUPS. THE ENTIRE CLASS WILL BE INVOLVED WITH THE ENTIRE PROJECT.

5. GRADING AND SUCH

The class meets once a week. Thus, if you miss a class, you miss a week’s work. Attendance is therefore crucial and will be taken into consideration in your final grade (10%). So will wandering in late and/or wandering out early. (10%) You are expected to come to class regularly, ready to work, and to stay for the full extent of the class period: three hours.

As noted, each session following the first will begin with a report from each of the groups. Group members will rotate this responsibility among themselves so that the report will not be given by the same person each time. Since there are five groups and ten people in the class, this means that each person will be responsible for every second report.

As also mentioned, these reports are meant to be both informative and challenging; informative in the sense that they will recount what the group has been doing and what it has accomplished, challenging in that it will pose questions and problems for the other groups and for the class as a whole. Participation in these weekly sessions is important and the degree and quality of individual participation will be a component of your final grade (30%).

The quality of your work, your engagement with the project as manifested by the work you do to achieve it, and your general performance as a member of the class will be the basis for the balance of your grade (50%). You are invited and encouraged to speak to me at any time about your grade, your work, or related issues. My office hours and location are posted below,

6. OFFICE HOURS

Tues. Wed. & Thurs. 1:00-2:15 or by appointment
2109A Susquehanna Hall
Phone: 5-2894
email: ml26@umail.umd.edu

7. DISABLED STUDENTS

Any student with a documented disability is requested to contact the instructor at the earliest opportunity in order that appropriate accommodations be made.


	CMLT 679Z SPRING, 2000 PROFESSOR MITCHELL LIFTON TEXT: Kershner & Lifton, CECILIA screenplay (course booklet) Web assignments (& URLs) will be announced. 1. SUBJECT AND OBJECT OF THE COURSE The subject of the course will be the design, construction, and implementation of an interactive version of the feature film "Cecilia". The film is currently schduled to begin production on March 1, 2000. However, sufficient elements now exist that the basic work on making this a stand-alone project exemplifying the power of digital narration can proceed. It is not anticipated that all of the necessary work will be completed in one semester. It will be the task of the students in the course to carry out the conceptual planning and, eventually, the execution, of the digital project. This means that the feature script will have to be modified and redesigned, in effect, reconceptualized, using either StorySpace or ScriptTools as the first planning bases. From this will grow the revised script--or “bible”--for the digital project. Once the “bible” phase is sufficiently advanced, graphic and 3D design will follow. Until the film is shot and the footage made available, the class will proceed to model story locations and spaces, using only stick figures to represent the characters. The exact nature of the interactive elements and their implementation will of course depend on the evolution of the digital script, but it is a specific purpose of the course to experiment fully with the various emerging possibilities of digital narration. For this reason, the class will be organized in a manner analogous to an advanced science laboratory, where students and instructor participate in the basic and applied research necessary for the successful conclusion to an experiment. The object of the course is, therefore, to make Cecilia both a laboratory for the exploration of the full potential of digital narration, and an example of how this new narrative medium can function. 2. AN EXPERIMENTAL CONCEPT OF DIGITAL NARRATION Until now, digital narration has been limited in both its conceptual scope and the intellectual and/or artistic content which the vehicle carries. Methodologically, digital narration divides into two broad approaches. The first examples to have come along are hypertextual works of various kinds which link passages of text or individual words with other reference points, other text, graphic materials, and so on. Essentially, these are user-directed data banks which allow the individual user to create her/his own thread through the material, be it narrative or research-oriented. The second, familiar to us through a wide variety of computer games, for example, allows the user to make a series of choices which determine the narrative outcome. Frequently, these choices are merely geographical, (i.e., turn right or turn left?). At other times the user may activate a lever, push a button, pull a trigger and so on, which actions put in train a series of other actions within the narrative space, sometimes predictable, sometimes not. It will be a working assumption of the seminar that neither of these approaches begins to take full advantage of the inherent power of digital narration. For reasons given below, the instructor is not sympathetic to the notion that these devices “empower” the user (and even less sympathetic to all jargon of like kind). A strong case can be made that these are, on the contrary, disassociating factors which remove or alienate the user from the heart of the narrative, and thus attenuate rather than enhance narrative effect. Where, then, does the real power of digital narration reside? This, indeed, is one of the crucial questions that the work of the class will attempt to resolve, or at least explore in depth. Tentatively, we will begin by considering immersion as being critical to successful digital narration. Though one may define immersion in several ways, for our purposes it will be taken to mean placing the “reader” in the narrative space as completely as possible. We know that narrative always seeks to immerse the reader/listener/watcher (henceforth “reader” for short) as deeply as possible in the world of the story. Naturally, different strategies are used depending on whether the work is verbal, literary, cinematic, operatic, and so on. Nevertheless, however they may differ, as clearly they do, all immersive strategies have a common factor: active engagement with the “reader’s” imagination. Without this, no one reading a novel would for a moment be able to enter the world of the story, which is of course a complex commingling of the imaginations of “readers” and authors. The “reader” must be engaged to a degree where the famous “willing suspension of disbelief” takes place. A spectator may know and acknowledge that “this is only a movie”, but unless that spectator’s imagination is actively engaged, the shower scene in Psycho, for example, will be nothing more than a schematic of horror, lacking the necessary visceral dimension to be effective. During the early part of the century, Bertold Brecht enunciated a theory--sometimes called the alienation effect--which became extremely influential in the composition of dramatic narrative. This theory essentially called for the spectator to be “distanced” or “alienated” from the emotive component of a dramatic narrative in order to allow the spectator to deploy an intellectual rather than an emotional response to the narrative. It is telling that Brecht himself little practiced what he preached, and in his later work essentially reversed his position. The reason for this has already been mentioned above: for narrative to be effective, it must engage the “reader’s” emotions and therefore imagination. An interesting question is why narrative should be so ubiquitous in human societies and, as a corollary, what adaptive function it engages for this to be so. This question, however, is not immediately germane to our efforts and is only mentioned here as a point of considerable theoretical interest. 3. SOME POSSIBILITIES FOR IMMERSION A “reader” seated in front of a computer screen is faced with some of the same elements of spectating that a tv viewer confronts. A computer, like a tv set, is a familiar object placed in a familiar--or at least recognizable--setting. It does not command attention in the way in which a reflective screen in a darkened movie theater with surround-sound does. The movie house may be familiar, but, once the lights are dimmed and an image appears on the screen, a spectator, seated in front of that screen and surrounded by other spectators similarly placed, is of necessity “pulled” into the action being depicted by the shadow-play which comprises any motion picture. Likewise, a reader who is “captured” by a narrative text in the pages of a book has to actively deploy her or his imagination, following the paths which the author of the text has drawn. It doesn’t matter whether this reading is being done in the comfort of a cushy chair or in an airport lounge, the relationship between the text and its consumer is effective to the degree to which that text engages the consumer’s imagination. This is precisely what makes a “page-turner” a page-turner. But a computer user looking for a narrative experience has to overcome the barriers posed both by the familiarity of the setting (one’s own desk, a computer lab, etc.) and by the need to manipulate the machine, no matter how subtle or minimal this might be. The job of “pulling” the “reader” into a computer-based narrative is thus made immediately more difficult. Furthermore, a computer screen, like a tv, is a screen which radiates light, unlike a movie screen which merely reflects it. Some studies have shown that, for physiological and psychological reasons, reflected light is significantly more conducive to narrative involvement than is light emanating from a radiating source. What digital media uniquely possesses, however, is the ability, at least the potential ability, to bring the “reader” into a three-dimensional space. Ultimately, this is what is meant by immersion. At this time the immersion is only created through visual and aural means. Tactile immersion is only available in experimental settings which require very elaborate and cumbersome apparatii such as helmets, gloves, suits, etc. Olfactory immersion is even more primal. Nevertheless, picture a situation where the “reader”, instead of being confronted with a single computer screen, is in a setting where the walls, ceiling and floor are all imaging surfaces, thus creating a genuine three-dimensioned space in which the “reader” can function and interact with the characters in the narrative. Clearly this is a major step in the direction of total immersion. In this setting, the “reader” effectively becomes another virtual object, surely a very much heightened and intense manifestation of the suspension of disbelief. When, at some future date, tactile and olfactory elements will be added--as no doubt they will eventually be--the differentiation between narrative illusion and objective reality will be very blurry indeed. And is not the blurring of this frontier one of the hallmarks of successful narrative modes? Before we get too utopian, however, let’s recognize our present limits. We are still dealing with a “reader” in front of a familiar screen and a computer which needs to be manipulated. Our task is to take the tools presently available to us and use them to maximize immersion to the greatest degree which, stretching them to their limit, they will allow. It is anticipated that during the course of the semester other tools may become available. For the time being, however, we will stick to the instruments at hand. 4. ORGANIZATION OF THE COURSE As already noted, the course will be organized as a laboratory. All the individuals enrolled in the course come to it with a variety of backgrounds, predilections, and talents. While the group as a whole will be involved with all facets of the project, clearly many aspects of the work will be of a more or less specialized nature. At our first class meeting we will divide the class into several working groups, each of which will have primary--but not exclusive--responsibility for a specific area of our work. The areas are described below. At the beginning of each class each group will report on its work: advances, ideas, problems, questions, and so on. These sessions are not verbal exams, but rather free-wheeling, collaborative working conferences in which synergy and the necessary symbiotic relationships between the work of the groups are made manifest. The division into groups is a matter of practicality and working efficiency, it is not to be seen as an invitation to competition. IN OTHER WORDS, THE EXPERIMENT IS A COOPERATIVE AND COLLABORATIVE CLASS EFFORT INVOLVING ALL OF US. This may run counter to the prevailing national dogma of savage competition über alles, but it is worth remembering that in nature, the survival of the fittest doesn’t necessarily mean the survival of the most ferocious competitor, but can and frequently does mean the survival of the most astute collaborator. The groups will assume primary responsibility for the following (though some of these topics may, and probably will, be modifiedas we go along): a. script modification b. immersive strategies & methods c. modeling of narrative spaces d. strategies of interactivity e. character activation As you can see, these are all related to, and dependent upon, one another. So, whatever group you will belong to, your first loyalty is to the project and the experiment as a whole. BEING ASSIGNED TO ONE GROUP DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU CANNOT OR WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN WORK BEING DONE BY ANY OF THE OTHER GROUPS. THE ENTIRE CLASS WILL BE INVOLVED WITH THE ENTIRE PROJECT. 5. GRADING AND SUCH The class meets once a week. Thus, if you miss a class, you miss a week’s work. Attendance is therefore crucial and will be taken into consideration in your final grade (10%). So will wandering in late and/or wandering out early. (10%) You are expected to come to class regularly, ready to work, and to stay for the full extent of the class period: three hours. As noted, each session following the first will begin with a report from each of the groups. Group members will rotate this responsibility among themselves so that the report will not be given by the same person each time. Since there are five groups and ten people in the class, this means that each person will be responsible for every second report. As also mentioned, these reports are meant to be both informative and challenging; informative in the sense that they will recount what the group has been doing and what it has accomplished, challenging in that it will pose questions and problems for the other groups and for the class as a whole. Participation in these weekly sessions is important and the degree and quality of individual participation will be a component of your final grade (30%). The quality of your work, your engagement with the project as manifested by the work you do to achieve it, and your general performance as a member of the class will be the basis for the balance of your grade (50%). You are invited and encouraged to speak to me at any time about your grade, your work, or related issues. My office hours and location are posted below, 6. OFFICE HOURS Tues. Wed. & Thurs. 1:00-2:15 or by appointment 2109A Susquehanna Hall Phone: 5-2894 email: ml26@umail.umd.edu 7. DISABLED STUDENTS Any student with a documented disability is requested to contact the instructor at the earliest opportunity in order that appropriate accommodations be made.